About this book

Although they are relative latecomers on the evolutionary scene, having emerged only 135–170 million years ago, angiosperms – or flowering plants – are the most diverse and species-rich group of seed-producing land plants, comprising more than 15,000 genera and over 350,000 species. Not only are they a model group for studying the patterns and processes of evolutionary diversification, they also play major roles in our economy, diet, and courtship rituals, producing our fruits, legumes, and grains, not to mention the flowers in our Valentine's bouquets. They are also crucial ecologically, dominating most terrestrial and some aquatic landscapes.

This fully revised edition of Phylogeny and Evolution of the Angiosperms provides an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of the evolution of and relationships among these vital plants. Incorporating molecular phylogenetics with morphological, chemical, developmental, and paleobotanical data, as well as presenting a more detailed account of early angiosperm fossils and important fossil information for each evolutionary branch of the angiosperms, the new edition integrates fossil evidence into a robust phylogenetic framework. Featuring a wealth of new colour images, this highly synthetic work further reevaluates long-held evolutionary hypotheses related to flowering plants and will be an essential reference for botanists, plant systematists, and evolutionary biologists alike.

Reviews of the first edition:

"[One of the] most significant books on flowering plant phylogeny and systematics to come out in recent years [...] This book belongs on the bookshelf of any serious plant systematist – it will be a valuable resource for years to come."– BioScience

"Takes a unique but much needed approach to describe the phylogeny, systematics, and evolutionary patterns of flowering plants. The volume represents a major systematic contribution [...] The book's goals are to review the molecular phylogeny of all flowering plants and use this information to inform systematics and our understanding of major evolutionary trends; in this it succeeds admirably [...] I find it challenging to criticize this book: it is a really well-organized and well-presented compendium, filling an important niche [...] It will be a valuable reference for every botanist and many ecologists, and compelling reading for anyone who works on plant morphology, systematics, and evolution. It will be an important source of ideas and phylogenetic information for future higher-level systematic and comparative studies of flowering plants."– Quarterly Review of Biology

"An important and very helpful book and a must for every plant systematist."– Plant Systematics and Evolution

"No endnote to a finished project, but rather, a dynamic and synoptic state-of-the-union of the ongoing effort by many botanists [...] A necessary reference [...] It is encyclopedic in its treatment of the subject matter and the lengthy list of works cited makes it an excellent source book for anyone hoping to begin broad phylogenetic study."– Cladistics

"The authors present scholarly and lucid discussions of topics ranging from parallel and convergent evolution to the evolution of genome size and base chromosome number [...] Fascinating reading, not only for the answers it provides to many [...] curiosities about plant evolution, but also for the scholarly discussion of those questions still awaiting answers."– Taxon